Combined knife and eork



A. PRZYBYLEK. COMBINED KNIFE AND FORK;

APPLICATION FILED AUG-23. I919- Patented Dec. 9,1919.

ALECK PRZYBYLEK, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

. COMBINED KNIFE AND roan;

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 9,1919;

Application filed An us/cs3, 1919. Serial No. "319,331. 1

I To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, Anne PRZYBYLEK,

residing at Newark, county of ESSBX,2.I1Cl.

Stateof New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Knives and Forks, of which the followlng is a specification.

"This invention has for its object the provision of an implement for cutting food and conveying the same to'the mouth, the implej ment. being capableof operation by one hand. i

Afurther object is to provide an implement of the class describedcapable of practical use by the lame, maimed or those having the use of one hand only, whereby food may be divided and manipulated in a convenient manner. 7

These objects are attained by the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a material part of this disclosure, and in which- Figure 1 is a front elevational view showing a combined knife and fork made in accordance with the invention, the coyer plate being removed as indicated by line 11 of Fig. 2. V

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same, parts being broken away in order to disclose the interior construction, and

' Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. l.

Referring to the drawings in'detail, the numeral 10 indicates a hollowrectangular casing having a cover plate 11 engaged by screw bolts 12,the same passing through the opening in the casing and lnto the rear wall thereon.

A fork shank 16 is rigidly secured to the lower end of the casing with which is formed an offset extension 17 terminating in a plurality of prongs 18, the same being fashioned in the manner of table fork.

Longitudinally slidable Within the casing 10 is a rectangular plunger 19, having an offset upperportion 20, andjoined by a stern.

therewith is an enlarged knob 21 adapted to receive the thumb or finger of an operator whereby the plunger may be pressed mwardly against a compression spring 22 extending below the offset element 20 and guided by a pin 23 at its upper end, the lower end encircling a pin 34, fixed in a lug 25 within the casing.

an ordinary Formed with the plunger 19 isa rack bar 26, engageable'with a'spur pinion27, one side of which is'slidable against an abutment 28,'formed.with the cover plate 11, while set centrally in the gear 28 is .apin 29, slidably and rotatablywmounted in an elongated slot 30,"formed' in the rear wall of thecasing 10' through which it extends. The gear .27 is recessed :interiorly and provided with a plurality of internal ratchet teeth 31, and: mounted fill the recess is a disk 32, carrying a pawl 33, engageable with the teeth of the internal ratchet and held in position by a flat spring 34, the disk being rigidly engagedfwiththe spindle 29 upon which the gear 27 freely rotates. 5

Thus, as the knob 21 is depressed, rotary V motion is transmitted by the rack and by reason of the pawl 33 to the disk 32, causing and move withinthe spindle 29 to rotate the slot 30.

Rigidly engaged with the spindle 29 is a knife blade 35, protected by a guard plate- 36, attached at its upper end by an ofiset.

connection 37, to the casing 10 and in order to hold the knife blade when in a raised or covered'position, a flat spring 38 is secured by riveting or the like in the interior of the casing, within the guard plate 36 and in contact with the blade when in a folded position, thereby holding it yieldingly against movement.

In operation, when itis desired to use the implement as a fork only, the casing and cover are grasped bythe hand and the fork actuated in any desired manner.

When it is desired to use the knife, as in slicing foods, the fork is inserted in the food, the plunger knob 21 depressed, hereby turning the blade outwardly and at the same time depressing the same so that as it passes closely adjacent to the tines of the fork, in a circular path, on the axis 29, as to cut whatever the fork may be engaged'with,

and by repeatedly depressing the extending knob 21 the blade will again be received within the guard blade 36, or moved out again by further movement of the knob.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a novel and commodious devicev has'be'e'n disclosed whereby food may be cut by an operator in a convenient manner and conveyed to the mouth in the usual way, all of the several operations being controlled by one hand only.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a combined knife and fork, the combination with a hollow casing, and a cover therefor, of a fork rigidly extending from one end of said casing, a plunger bar mounted to move longitudinally in said casing means for normally holding said plunger bar in a raised position, a knife pivoted in said casing, a gear rotatable on the pivot of said knife, operative connections between said gear and the knife, means preventing a retrograde movement of the knife, and a rack bar formed with said plunger adapted to actuate said gear.

2. In a combined knife and fork, the combination with a hollow casing, and a fork extending from one end thereof, of a plunger slidable longitudinally in said casing, means for actuating said plunger, means for normally holding said plunger in a raised position, a rack-bar extending from said plunger, a gear engageable therewith, a ratchet contained within said gear, a spindle upon which said ratchet is fixed whereby said spindle may be rotated in one direction only, a knife blade secured to said spindle adapted 'to be rotated by the down ward movement of said rack bar, and a guard for said k'nife blade overlying said casing.

3. In a combined knife and fork, the com- "bination with a hollow casing, and a fork formed with said plunger bar, a gear en gaged with said rack, a spindle on which said gear rotates, a ratchet formed internally'of said gear, a disk carrying a pawl engageable with said ratchet, said disk being fixed upon said spindle, a knife blade secured upon saic spindle, arguard extending from said casing. forming a pocket for said knife blade, and a yielding contact secured to said casing adapted to engage with said knife, when inclosed in said guard.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

ALECK PRZYBYLEK. 

